


A Gem of a Tale

by rainbowtourmaline



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Asexual Lapis Lazuli, Asexuality, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Fusion, Humor, Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, Light Angst, Past Abuse, Recovery, Teasing, but peridot gets over it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-03 13:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 13,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5291975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowtourmaline/pseuds/rainbowtourmaline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of Steven Universe one shots written after October 2015 until December 2016. </p><p>Do you love Amedot angst, fluff and humour? Do you like a bit of Pearlnet loving? Or reading about ships you may not have considered before? Look no further and read my wonderful one shots!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where do Garnets Come From?

**Author's Note:**

> Today I've written some actual Steven Universe fanfic. Not Steven Universe AUs, Steven Universe fanfics! 
> 
> It's all Amedot's fault for capturing my heart.
> 
> Enjoy SU fandom and sorry clogging up the tag with my SU AU fics. *wink wink*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the 'A Gem of Tale' mini fanfic series collection. Here's some pointers on how to enjoy it: 
> 
> 1\. The latest chapter is usually FULL of spoilers for the latest SU episodes unless I state otherwise. The older fanfics are usually spoiler free if you've already caught up with the latest episodes.
> 
> 2\. All these fics are either one-shots or mini series so you can read them in whichever order you want! You can read the series backwards, throw dice to decide whether you're gonna read chapter 3 or 9, you can even read one and not bother to read the rest. 
> 
> 3\. Please remember that I'm writing these as the series airs so if a story is no longer canon-compliant, I was unaware of that while writing the fanfic at the time. 
> 
> 4\. Amethyst/Peridot and Garnet/Pearl are the main ships for this series of one shots, but new ships may be introduced as the series goes on. 
> 
> 5\. I love ALL the gems. ALL of them. If I don't write a fic about this gem or that gem, it's probably just because I don't have a good idea for a story about them yet.
> 
>  **All right, now to summarise the chapter below:**
> 
> Peridot asks Garnet where Garnets come from. Features Peridot/Amethyst and Ruby/Sapphire.

When Peridot got the Steven Universe star on her uniform, making her induction into the Crystal Gems official, she had felt bigger than she ever had before in her life.  
  
“Not so bad being a Crystal Clod now, is it?” Garnet smirked as she accompanied her on ‘Malachite’ duty. The Crystal Gems had seen the fusion rampaging on the surface and it was thanks to Peridot and Amethyst’s ability to work together that they were able to beat back Malachite from destroying Beach City. Peridot had never dreamed that she and Amethyst would ever become close enough to be able to work together on such an important mission that would save countless of lives, but apparently the nerd had wormed her way into Amethyst’s heart.  
  
And into the Crystal Gem’s inner circle too.  
  
“No.” Peridot smiled when Garnet handed her one of Amethyst’s favourite drinks, a so-da. “It feels incredible, nyeh heh heh!” she hardly noticed when Garnet shook her head at the small gem clambering up the fence to get a better view of the fields.  
  
_Sigh._ Earth at night was truly one of the most spectacular sights Peridot had come to love in her time being here and it helped her understand why Rose Quartz was crazy enough to defend it against Yellow Diamond. Now don’t get Peridot wrong, she was still scared of Yellow Diamond and knew that that gem could still pound her tiny butt into the ground but a little part of Peridot felt so… enormous while looking at how the stars sparkled in the night sky. It was like looking at the natural wonders of the planet gave her strength and she thought  _‘this must have been what it felt like to be Rose Quartz.’_  
  
This realisation and discovering the reasons why the Crystal Gems had betrayed Homeworld had helped her come to her decision to stay with these clods she had become quite fond of.  
  
Garnet’s reason for staying on Earth in particular, had a profound effect on her and the way she saw fusion.  
  
“Garnet?”  
  
“Mmm?” the other gem replied, chewing on a piece of grass. It was a habit she had picked up while being at the barn.  
  
Peridot opened her mouth to ask ‘how did you become one gem’ but thought against it, not wanting to offend Garnet when they had just become companions.  
  
“When did Sapphire and Ruby decide to have you?” Peridot had heard Greg tell the story of how he and Rose came to the decision to have Steven, so Peridot felt this was the right way to ask Garnet.  
  
Garnet spit out her stick of grass to bellow out a loud, booming laugh that made Peridot go “ooh!” as she held onto the fence for dear life. She made some grunting and groaning noises as she kicked her tiny legs in the air, desperately trying to climb back up herself but Garnet took pity on her and placed her back onto the fence. Poor Peridot’s desperate climb did not stop Garnet from giggling though. Pfft! Clod!  
  
“Why the sudden curiosity Peri?” Garnet smirked as she handed Peridot another soda, one she hadn’t dropped in her struggle to get back up the fence. “I thought we covered fusion in Steven’s World Education Class.”  
  
Peridot blushed a bright green and sputtered a “DOES IT MATTER?” but Garnet just wouldn’t stop smirking at her, like she could see the images of Amethyst popping into her head.  
  
Thanks to her time here on Earth and her friendship with Steven, Peridot had become a lot more tolerant of fusion and had grown to respect Garnet as a single gem. Not two clods, but  _one_  gem.  
  
And... don't tell anyone because Peridot will flip her switch if anyone found out about this, but when Steven told her that Ruby and Sapphire wanted to be fused all the time because they loved one another a sappy, sentimental side of Peridot that existed deep inside her felt... touched. And she desperately wanted to know how a gem decided that: "I always want to be with you."  
  
It made Peridot want to barf. Honestly, she had as Jasper would so eloquently put it 'gone native.'  
  
"Okay, okay don't sweat it I'll tell you." Garnet chuckled and sat down by the fence to begin 'story time.'  
  
"Ruby and Sapphire had fused on many occasions, but Ruby was sure she wanted to be me all the time. Sapphire wasn't so sure." 

"Why?" Peridot innocently asked as she sipped her soda.   
  
"She's the cautious kind of gem. As you know Homeworld doesn't approve of fusion and she wasn't sure the relationship would last because long term fusion puts pressure on a relationship that's still in the early stages."   
  
"HA! So much for future vision." Peridot snorted, taking long, smug zip of her Earth drink.   
  
"Peridot." Garnet said in a tone that reminded Peridot of Greg when Steven had not cleaned up after himself.   
  
"Sorry." Peridot said. "Please continue."   
  
Garnet started the story again.   
  
"Sapphire was reluctant to become me on a permanent basis, but she soon changed her tune when Ruby almost died in battle. She didn't want to be seperated from Ruby, knowing she could get hurt like that without her." this made Peridot's jaw drop. "However, Ruby wasn't having _any_ of it. Ruby said 'Sapphire, if you just want to be fused because you think I'm made of glass then you can forget about it!' She wouldn't speak to Sapphire during her recovery, which drove Rose up the wall."   
  
Peridot laughed at the little impression of Ruby Garnet had made. Peridot hadn't met the gem yet, but she had a feeling it was spot on.   
  
"Driven to her wit's end, Rose locked Ruby and Sapphire in a room deep within the temple to get them to work out their differences. After several hours of hashing out their issues, Ruby and Sapphire agreed that fusion wasn't an option until they were both ready to make that kind of commitment. So they decided to not discuss it further, though Ruby was tempted to make a quip about Sapphire's commitment issues."   
  
"WELL WHO COULD BLAME HER?" Peridot cried. "Being stuck with the same bad tempered gem all the time, how could she bear it?"   
  
Peridot sat there in silence, not daring to look at Garnet who was probably giving her the death glare of a lifetime. Peridot had learned that this was an appropriate time to apologise and draw wisdom from her mistakes.   
  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't insult your mother." Peridot breathed a sigh of relief when Garnet chuckled at her apology. "I'm sure she has her good points too, better than someone who blurts out the first thing that comes into her head!"   
  
"Oh she does that as well." Garnet smirked. "May I continue?" Peridot nodded and zipped her lip, promising to remain silent for the rest of the story.   
  
"In spite of their differences, Sapphire and Ruby went on to fight for this planet and their freedom as me. They had their ups and downs, but they thought their way through them all until Earth was won. They did not give up, not even when Sapphire's commanding officer had offered her a promotion in return for her betrayal of Rose Quartz. To Sapphire that was a huge deal, as Blue Diamond was the one whose approval she had craved in spite of her self. Knowing that in her heart she would always choose Ruby or run to her in times of trouble, Sapphire decided that she wasn't scared to be happy anymore."   
  
Peridot blinked and felt her throat go dry, the atmosphere around Garnet suddenly changing as the fireflies emerged from the greenery.   
  
"After Earth was won, Sapphire kissed Ruby and asked her to be Garnet forever."   
  
"Did she say yes?" Peridot asked, completely enthralled by the story.   
  
Garnet snickered, before ruffling the small gem's hair. "You bet."   
  
Peridot grunted and tried to put back on her goggles as they had slipped in her attempt to get away from Garnet's ruffling, but after a moment or two of finding her bearings she mumbled "that sounds kind of nice." Peridot tried to block the image of Amethyst from her mind as she thought about how great being a fusion might be, but she couldn't help smile at the image of Amethyst dancing with her and turning into something... magical.   
  
Peridot squealed as Garnet popped her hand on her shoulder and said: "It will happen when it happens! You may even love her so much, you may not wanna be a single gem anymore."   
  
The fusion winked and walked away from Peri, their shift nearly over.   
  
Peridot sat there with her mouth open so wide a stray firefly may have gotten lost in there, before she realised what Garnet had said to her.   
  
"LIKE JANK I WILL!" she screamed as she chased the other gem, struggling to keep up with her. "I mean, I don't have a problem with you, but ME fusing! Well, I just don't see it!" Peridot gave a nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her neck, refusing to meet the other gem in the eye.   
  
"That's what Sapphire thought as well."   
  
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Peridot screamed, her face glowing a dark green colour. "WOULD YOU STOP TRYING TO FORCE YOUR WAY OF LIFE ON ME!"   
  
"You're the one who asked about it cutie pie." Garnet smiled. "And I'm sure if you asked nicely, I’m sure Amethyst would say yes."   
  
Peridot had severely and thoroughly been dunked on.   
  
Deciding she had lost her dignity and couldn't return to the Steven household, she decided to lie there on the green pasture until this heck hole of a planet swallowed her whole.   
  
Peridot really didn't ask for these feelings, she really didn’t.   


	2. Love Takes Time - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot has made a mistake and now she's gotta fix it. Peridot/Amethyst ahoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't read this chapter if you haven't watched the preview for Steven Bomb 4. SPOILER ALERT!

Peridot stumbled back and forth between the light and dark side, but Steven knew she’d make the right choice. Eventually.

“I’m so proud!” Pearl crooned, handing around a bag of marshmallows in order to celebrate Peridot’s latest achievement since she joined the Crystal Gems. “You disarmed Yellow Diamond and saved Steven’s life as if you were noble Sir Lancelot himself! The way you circled her and flicked that sword out of her hand almost looked like strategy!”

 “Hehe, well…” Peridot blushed, scratching the back of her neck. “I did have a pretty good teacher!”

“Yeah, it helps that you’re good at backstabbing too.” Peridot frowned and Pearl nearly dropped the bag of marshmallows she was holding. Amethyst paid them no attention as she handed her stick of mallows to Steven and mumbled something about ‘needing fresh air.’

Even though Pearl patted Peridot reassuringly on the shoulder and said ‘give Amethyst her space, trust me, I’ve been in this sticky situation before’, the green gem’s stomach kept dropping lower and lower as she watched Amethyst walk away. It made her feel… small!

Peridot growled and announced “I TOO NEED FRESH AIR!” before flouncing towards the direction Amethyst went. She decided enough was enough! She couldn’t handle anymore of this tension.

She needed to talk to Amethyst. 

“Peridot, wait!” Steven was about to leave his place the fire before Garnet stopped him.

“Let her go Steven. Amethyst and Peridot need to talk.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Garnet? I don’t think Amethyst is ready yet.” Pearl said as she watched worriedly after the two absent gems, like a bird that was watching her babies fly from the nest.

 “Love takes time and love takes work and you at least have to know the person. It’s time Peridot found out what was on Amethyst’s mind when she attacked us.” Pearl made a sound that suggested she perhaps didn’t agree with Garnet’s wisdom in this context, but she stayed behind with her and Steven. Pearl would trust Garnet’s judgment and hope for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people think that Amedot is in deep trouble because it looks like Peridot is betraying the Crystal Gems in the trailer for Steven Bomb 4. And they may be right since I don't think Amethyst is going to take too kindly to Peridot betraying and hurting her family (even if she hasn't actually become a good guy yet), but can you imagine the possibilities for this pairing if they went down the angsty route?! 
> 
> I shipped Zutara when Avatar The Last Airbender was still airing and even though Zuko acted like a jerk, he and Katara eventually had a beautiful friendship where was willing to risk his life for her and vice versa. If Amedot gets any development similar to that, I will be super happy.


	3. Love Takes Time - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot confronts Amethyst.

 Peridot stopped walking through the fields when she spotted a plump body of purple. She smiled and approached Amethyst, trying but failing to hide her enthusiasm. She would never admit it aloud but Peridot had _really_ missed Amethyst when she had re-joined Yellow Diamond. She hadn’t really thought about the purple gem much at first, but eventually it was the little things that got Peridot.

For example, whenever the Crystal Gems had been mentioned a flash of Amethyst’s smile would pass through her minds eye. When one of the warrior class gems had called her a ‘runt’ Peridot was reminded of how she hurt Amethyst and thought ‘she’s ten times the gem these big bullies are!’ And when Yellow Diamond grimaced at how bright the sun was while it rose from horizon, Peridot just stood there quietly and basked in how that yellow orb reminded her of Amethyst’s raw energy.

Peridot didn’t know it yet, but she had it _bad_. So bad that she couldn’t stand it when Amethyst acted like the moon, so melancholic and lonely.

“Hey Amethyst!” Peridot waved. She’d put that gorgeous smile right back on the purple gem’s face, even if it killed her! “Pearl offered me one of those _marshmallow_ things Steven likes but I decided to _mellow_ out with my best buddy instead! Get it? Mellow?! That’s a thing Steven taught me, I believe it’s called a pun-”

“Whatever, nerd.” Amethyst scoffed and turned her body away from Peridot to look out at the ocean. “Just leave me alone.”  

Peridot stood there, gaping at Amethyst.

Okay, that was it. No more Miss Nice Gem. Steven told Peridot to be ‘tactical’ and Pearl told her she needed to be ‘patient’ with Amethyst. Well now was the time to throw ‘tact’ and ‘patience’ out the window because it certainly wasn’t getting her anywhere! 

“Why are you so mad?” Peridot shrieked, finally asking the question she had been holding in since she became a member of the Crystal Gems. “Everyone else has forgiven me, why can’t you?”

“You want to know?” Amethyst asked while she cocked an eyebrow at her enemy.

“Yes, I want to know.”

“Do you _really_ want to know?”

“Yes I want to know that’s why I asked the question!”

“You wanna know why? Okay, I’ll tell you why!” Peridot nearly fell backwards as Amethyst loomed in and got right in Peridot’s face to give her a nasty scowl.

 _“I am mad because I thought we were friends!”_ Amethyst screamed so loud into the night sky that the birds nearby ran for miles.

A long pause took place before Peridot said “What?”

“The others didn’t like you before you went back to Yellow Diamond, but _I did_. I thought after what happened in the barn that maybe you liked me for who I was but clearly I was wrong.” Peridot gaped at the way Amethyst’s lower lip trembled, which the purple gem tried to hide by taking a deep breath and suppressing the sob that threatened to escape her _. “I was stupid to think anyone would stick around just for me!”_

“Amethyst, wait-” Peridot wanted to say a lot of things to her, so many things that she had been ruminating over while on the Homeworld ship. She wanted to tell Amethyst how much she thought about her while she was away, how important the other gem had become to her and how she was one of the main reasons she came back but- 

“No! No waiting. You can’t just disappear and come back whenever you feel like it. I may come from a garbage dump but even I know I deserve _better_.” Amethyst walked away, teeth clenched and bangs hiding her eyes. “Go and do something useful like sword fighting with Pearl. _She_ likes you. Maybe even more than she likes me...”

The words Peridot wanted to says died on her lips as her mouth started to taste like ash. Watching Amethyst leave her when one of the things she wanted to do the most was spend time with her was like seeing all the colours in this bright new world vanish.

Peridot screamed and chucked a nearby rock into the ocean, watching it dancing across the surface before it eventually sank into the bottom of the sea.

She felt so stupid.

 


	4. Love Takes Time - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot saves Amethyst.

Amethyst had spent many nights fantasising about punching Peridot right in her bony, ugly face after she went crawling back to Yellow Diamond, but she had never wished for _this_ to happen.

“Peri? Peri?!” Amethyst shook the unconscious gem lying in her arms. She wheezed and tears spilled down her cheeks. _“If you die here I swear I will never, ever forgive you!”_

A few days ago she had sworn to do just that because Amethyst wasn’t going to lie to herself, losing Peridot hurt _a lot_. After the incident with Yellow Diamond she would flash Pearl a cheeky smirk, make jokes at Peridot’s expense to Steven and yell at Garnet for giving her a _look_ that dared to question her mental state but deep down being betrayed by Peridot was another near fatal blow to her self esteem. Amethyst knew that Peridot never made any promises or swore loyalty to the Crystal Gems so it was irrational to get so glum over a Homeworld gem, but still…

In Peridot’s eyes she was perfect.

“Peridot, please wake up.” Amethyst sobbed, clinging to her body and wondering why she hadn’t reverted into her gem yet. “Pearl’s gonna blame me if you’re late for your next sword fighting lesson, Steven’s gonna cry if you don’t come home and Garnet is going to be so disappointed in me…”

Garnet had warned Amethyst that confronting the maker of the Kindergarten would be a bad idea, but she wouldn’t listen. She had to know where she came from and who she would have been under the proper care for a quartz gem. She was desperate to know that she had reluctantly teamed up with Peridot to go find the maker and ask her questions.

She wasn’t reluctant to go with Peridot because she was still mad at her, but because she wasn’t ready to open up to Peridot yet.

“My family already likes you more than they like me, so if I don’t come back with you I might not have a home to go back to.” But like it or not, Amethyst had opened up to Peridot about a lot of things she hadn’t told the others yet and she felt it made them a little bit closer. And more importantly, she felt like she could love herself again.

 _“Amethyst,” Peridot snickered as they walked through the caverns of the kindergarten. “The Crystal Clods are nuts about you! If anything_ , you’re _the favorite. When I decided to join you guys, Pearl said that if I ‘offended your honour’ she’d challenge me to a duel and Garnet said if I hurt you again she’d get out the shotgun... I don’t know what ‘offend your honour’ means or what a shotgun is but it was clear to me that they were trying to protect you. What they exactly think I’d do to you that would warrant a threat but not a death sentence, I have no clue but…”_

_Amethyst blushed a dark shade of purple but didn’t say more than ‘whatever.’ Pearl and Garnet could be really embarrassing sometimes, but nonetheless Amethyst smiled._

Right now, in the present Amethyst sobbed at the memory and pressed her forehead against Peridot’s, finally giving up on the idea of her friend ever coming back.

Until she felt a hand cup her cheek.

“Clod. Didn’t I tell you that you were the favourite?” Amethyst opened her eyes and saw a tired, bruised Peridot smiling up at her. “If you went home crying, I would be the one that would get into trouble!”

Amethyst gasped, hardly believing what she was seeing. 

“Then don’t jump in front of laser guns to protect me from that scientist lady!” Amethyst said, not even trying to suppress the smile stretching out towards her cheeks. “I’m just a defective quartz after all, I don’t need to be protected.” 

Amethyst stopped smiling when she felt one of Peridot’s fingers brushing her cheeks.

 “Wrong. You’re _my_ beautiful, defective quartz and you’re the main reason I came back to this pathetic planet.” Peridot said looking up at Amethyst like she was the sun at twilight. “You’ve _always_ been my reason for coming back to this planet. If I can’t protect you then I’ve got-”

Peridot didn’t even get a chance to continue what she was going to say because suddenly, Amethyst’s lips were covering hers. The green gem made no move to push Amethyst away, so she kept still and enjoyed the sensations that were swirling around in her head from the physical gesture of affection. Peridot didn’t know what was going on, but she suspected it was one of the ways Earth beings expressed affection for the one that they loved. Steven was going to sit her down and watch a movie about ‘romantic love’ to explain it all to her, but she didn’t have an opportunity to do her research before this trip.    

When Amethyst pulled away, Peridot kept still and looked at the purple gem with stars in her eyes. She resisted the urge to snicker at the way Amethyst’s cheeks turned the darkest shade of purple she had ever seen.

“Uh, don’t think that means I forgive you or anything!” Amethyst said, looking away. “I’m willing to give this relationship a shot, but only if you’re as committed to it as I am. No running back to Homeworld when things get tough, okay? Are we clear?”

Peridot excitedly nodded.

“ _Crystal_ clear.”

Amethyst punched her in the forearm for that terrible pun, but Peridot didn’t mind that much since she got was Amethyst called a ‘get well kiss’ before the gem carried her back home for medical treatment. They went home expecting to get the lecture of their lives, but as mad as Pearl and Garnet seemed they didn’t have the heart to dampen the team’s morale.

They were just glad Amethyst and Peridot came home happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand the angst train ends with a happy ending!


	5. Is That a Weapon?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot loses her patience with Jasper.

“Is that a weapon?”

Being tasked with the responsibility of guiding and caring for a new recruit-

“Is that a weapon?”

Gave Peridot a new appreciation for-

“Is that a weapon?”

Steven. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend how annoying and needy she might have been when-

“Is that a weapon?”

She first landed on this miserable planet.

“Is that a weapon?”

“That is a toilet, that is a toothbrush, this is a shower curtain and that is dental floss. No, none of these household items are weapons.” Peridot grinded her teeth together while the big, orange brute next to her breathed a sigh of relief before spotting her next source of anxiety. Her large claws clamped on Peridot’s shoulder and whispered:

“Is that a weapon?”

“YES!” Peridot screamed, grabbing what Steven had called the ‘hairdryer’ and switched it on with a loud roar. Jasper gave a lioness like scream at the loud noise before running for cover behind the shower curtain. Steven was not pleased.

“Peridot, what’s wrong with you?” Steven said as he stroked the large gem’s brow, while Jasper purred with delight. “That’s no way to treat a fellow Crystal Gem, especially after what happened to her!”

Peridot grumbled a “Yes Steven” before walking out in absolute disgust.

She had never babied in such a manner!  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to imagine that if Jasper joined the Crystal Gems, she'd be like this big furry cat.


	6. Cute and Tiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When it comes to this fandom I can't resist making Avatar: the Last Airbender references.

Garnet didn’t like interrupting Pearl when she was in good humour as she had a really pretty laugh, but she couldn’t help herself: “What’s so funny?”

Pearl pointed towards Amethyst, Peridot and Steven. Steven had just tapped Peridot’s arm and shouted “You’re it!” while the little green alien cried out in frustration as she chased the other two, huffing and puffing along the way.

“She’s just so cute and tiny!” in spite of the green gem’s lack of social awareness and deep embedded prejudices she was just beginning to grow out of, Garnet snickered. Pearl was right, but unfortunately that fact wasn’t well-received by all. Peridot's tiny ears perked up at the so-called insult and she instantly stopped running. 

“I AM NEITHER CUTE NOR TINY!” Peridot screamed like a tiny baby bird whose nest had been disturbed, before she left with a ‘hmph!’

Pearl covered her mouth in horror, but Garnet patted her on the shoulder.

“She’s cute and tiny. She’ll learn to accept it.”   


	7. Peridot's Big Fat Mouth (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst, Steven and Peridot catch Pearl and Garnet kissing.

Pearl was just minding her business, leaving Garnet a towel for when she decided to finish her lava pool bath, when Garnet suddenly leaned forward from it and started stroking her cheek while looking deeply into her eyes. She vaguely heard Garnet talking about how nearly losing her to White Diamond made her feel after a very emotional and dangerous battle, but couldn’t really comprehend anything apart from: “Pearl, do you want to kiss me?”   
  
Pearl answered by pulling the taller gem into a steamy kiss that would have put White Diamond in an early grave.

* * *

“I don’t think we should be interrupting a superior while she’s relaxing!”

“Chill Peri, Garnet’s not Yellow Diamond and I’m sure she’ll wanna see Steven’s-YIKES!” Amethyst covered Steven’s eyes when she spotted the not safe for kids scene before them.

“Oh my gem, isn’t being a perma-fusion enough for her? I was only starting to get used to fusion!” Peridot cried, before covering her mouth with her own hands. A part of her soul felt crushed by the sad looks she received from Pearl and Garnet and felt even worse when she saw Amethyst’s glare. Something in Amethyst’s eye conveyed disgust, anger and… hurt?  

“What’s happening, why’s everyone gone quiet not?” Steven cried, eyes still covered by Amethyst’s hands.

“It’s nothing Steven, just Peri embarrassing herself as per usual.” Amethyst flipped her hair and dragged the young half gemling back into the house, leaving Peri alone with the couple. Her absence made Peri feel cold.

“I-” Peridot began.

“Oh don’t leave Peridot, I’m going.” Pearl said, barely looking at the green gem. “Wouldn’t want to gross you out so much that you decide to run back to Yellow Diamond!”

“Pearl, I-”

“Oh no, you stay, you still need to get used to fusion after all!” Pearl snapped as she stormed out of the volcano, looking like she was going to erupt.

Peridot could barely look Garnet in the eye.

“You know I’m annoyed at your interrupting, right?” Peridot’s eyes went wide when she heard the annoyed but casual tone of Garnet’s voice.

“I’m sorry.” Peridot said. “That was really rude of me and I’ll apologise to Pearl for hurting her feelings, I was just shocked-”

Garnet raised her hand to get Peri to stop blabbing.

“I’ll forgive you if you do one thing for me, apart from apologising to pearl.”

“Name it.”

“You’re gonna learn about love.” Garnet smirked from her place in the bath while Peridot just wanted to throw herself into the lava so she could peacefully die from embarrassment.

Why couldn’t she keep her big mouth shut?


	8. Peridot's Big Fat Mouth (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot learns about kissing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages. I'll make up for it if the new episodes inspire me. I can't wait for Thursday!

“So when two humans like each other, they put their mouths together?”

“Yep.”

“For several seconds? Or minutes?”

“Yep.”

“And humans and Earth gems enjoy this activity?”

“Yep.”

“Even though there’s a significant risk of suffocation or deadly diseases being spread between the two parties?”

“The heart wants what the heart wants Peridot.” Garnet smiled.

“That… sounds fake, but okay.” Peridot frowned, scrutinising the notes she made during Garnet’s lecture. “If this is one of the ways humans and Earth gems express affection, then why don’t Ruby and Sapphire just kiss all the time?”

“Because everyone has a different way of expressing love.” Garnet said.

She carefully watched Peridot, who stood there in silence for about a minute. It looked like she was finally understanding-

“That sounds fake, but okay.”

“Peridot,” Garnet chuckled. “how about I explain this phenomenon in a way you will understand? For example, how would you feel if Amethyst suddenly kissed you?”

“WHAT?” Peridot screeched like a tea kettle and turned red hot, her flung notes lying forgotten on the ground. “K-kissing? With a quartz gem? I would never dare-”

“Peridot.” Garnet came down to the green gem’s level and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Try and forget about Homeworld rules for a moment. Just try and picture you and Amethyst as two gems, with no class affiliation. Try to picture Amethyst blushing, leaning in close to you to try and express how she feels about you.”

“No!” Peridot squeaked, covering her eyes. “It’s so… urgh, embarrassing!”

“But the thought feels good too, right?” Garnet smirked as she watched Peridot hesitate to answer.

“Well, I guess I could begin to understand how _other_ gems might enjoy the activity, even if it’s unsafe and unsanitary.” Peridot said. Garnet tried to not coo ‘you’re blushing’ or ‘liar liar, pants on fire.’ The fusion had realised long ago that while Peridot could sound or appear closed-minded, she could be persuaded to see another gem’s point of view. You just needed to take baby steps with her to get her outside her comfort zone. Judging by how Peridot was making a little ‘hehe’ noise at the images Garnet had conjured, Garnet had yet again succeeded in possibly changing Peridot’s world view for the better.

“That’s good to hear. Maybe one day you’ll feel comfortable enough to try it with Amethyst.”

“WHO SAID I WOULD WANNA DO THAT WITH AME- I MEAN THE QUARTZ GEM!” Peridot squawked. “Honestly Garnet, as if!”

She chuckled as she stormed out of Garnet’s room. The fusion shrugged, thinking Peridot would come back after she apologised to Pearl and wanted some kissing tips.

"Love's hard when you're young." 


	9. Photograph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a universe where Jasper, Lapis Lazuli and Peridot have all received a redemption arc, Steven gathers the new and old members of the Crystal Gems for a photo. In this universe Pearl/Garnet is also canon and Peridot has a giant crush on Amethyst.
> 
> Inspired by this AMAZING fanart of the gems (uh, if you don't want the fic spoiled for you I suggest looking at the art AFTER you've read it):
> 
> http://kianamaiart.tumblr.com/post/144294276374/its-hard-not-to-have-some-feelings-for-where

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reader: Hey rainbow, shouldn't you be writing the last chapter of that Undertale fanfic? And what happened to your Steven Universe/Free! crossover? 
> 
> Me: *Cries forever* 
> 
> I'm very sorry. The Undertale fanfic IS in the process of being written and it's nearly finished, but there's also times you just wanna give up on certain projects for a bit to work on something else, so you're refreshed for the current project. 
> 
> Any who, enjoy this fic and don't read it if you haven't watched Super Watermelon Island or In Too Deep yet. Also, not a good idea to read if platonic Lapis and Jasper isn't your thing.

Steven’s family had grown.

“Okay so… am I doing this right? What’s this button for? Ugh. It won’t turn on!” Lapis smirked while Jasper growled at the tiny contraption trapped between her large hands.

“Why don’t you try Greg’s method of fixing things? Pounding on it until it works seems like a good idea.” Lapis said.

“Hey, you’re right Lazuli! Yeah, I will beat this ‘camera’ into submission! Get ready for a good pounding Earth Machine!” Jasper said with a goofy grin and raised her fist-

“NO JASPER YOU CLOD, THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO GET MACHINES HEALTHY!” Peridot snatched the small device away from Jasper and hid it behind her back. “Earth machines are delicate! EXTREMELY delicate!”

“But-”

“No! Bad kitty!” Peridot reached for her spray bottle and squirted some water right in Jasper’s face.

“I thought we had agreed that the spray bottle was no longer necessary!” Jasper snarled, showing off her pearly whites. “AND I AM NOT A KITTEN!”

“Now, now Jasper. I’m sure Peridot meant no harm. She just wants you to calm down and relax.” Steven patted Jasper’s arm and gave her the sweetest smile ever. Jasper signed and leaned down to give Steven a cuddle.

“Sorry. I’m still getting used to Earth technology.” Jasper breathed in Steven’s scent. He smelled like strawberry and the ocean breeze. She liked that. “And I still am unable to tell when Lazuli is… Um, what’s the phrase?”

“Yanking your chain? Pulling your leg? _Trolling_ you?” Lapis cheerfully offered a few of the Earth phrases she had learned.

“ _Thank you_ Lapis.” Jasper said through gritted teeth. Steven cringed at the smile. “That was very _helpful_ of you.”

“Lapis, be nice.” Steven said. “Jasper is a sweet, innocent soul!”

“Oh I am, am I?” Jasper smirked. “Would a sweet, innocent soul do this?”

Steven shook like jelly as Jasper mercilessly tickled him under his arms, on his belly and under his chin until he cried for help: “Jasper, you don’t fight fair! Lapis help!”

“Okay.” Lapis grinned and joined Jasper’s tickle attack.  

“NO STOP!” Steven screamed while laughing. “HOMEWORLD IS ATTACKING!”

Jasper, Lapis and now Peridot had not ceased torturing their ticklish captive until Pearl busted out the house with her spear and ran down the beach to reach Steven.

“EVERYONE GET BACK IN THE TEMPLE, THIS IS NOT A DRILL-Oh.” Pearl frowned as she saw Steven within Jasper and Lapis’ clutches. She looked unimpressed by the fact Peridot had taken off Steven’s shoes to tickle his feet. Pearl raised an eyebrow. “More tickle attacks?”

“They’re fun!” Peridot grinned.

“Not so fun when you think there’s going to be a Homeworld attack.”

“If there was, we’d handle it.” Lapis crossed her arms and smirked. “We’re not going to let anything happen to Steven.”

“Especially now that I have a secret weapon!” Peridot snickered as she brandished her spray bottle and squirted a few drops of water into the air.

“You don’t seriously think that’s gonna do any damage, do you?” Jasper frowned, denying that she had ever been subdued by that trick.

“Oh you’d be surprised, Peridot actually defended Pearl’s honour with that thing.” Lapis said.

“Seriously?!”

“Oh yes.” Pearl chuckled, a dark smile gracing her features. “White Diamond certainly didn’t _see_ that one coming.”

Jasper and Steven looked at one another with a scared and confused expression on their faces. Pearl coughed and cleared her throat.

“How’s the camera?”

“Need’s a battery.” Peridot said, before she glared at Jasper. “Not a pounding.”

“Do I want to know?” Pearl asked.

“No.”

“All that matters is that we will be ready when Amethyst and Garnet come back with ice cream!” Steven smiled.

“And flowers for the new bride!” Jasper smirked as she wiggled her eyebrows at Pearl, who blushed and looked away.

“The wedding isn’t happening for another month yet.” Lapis said.

“Garnet can still buy her nice things!”

“Nice things and TASTY things, speaking of which, Steven do you think Amethyst remembers that I like chocolate mint chip best?”

“Peridot it’s not like your girlfriend is going to forget which flavour ice cream you like.”

“SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND-”

Pearl happily sighed as she watched the ‘Homeworld’ gems, as they had dubbed themselves, get into another fierce but friendly argument which was once again refereed by Steven.

So much had changed within two years.

* * *

“Why aren’t we eating the ice cream before the photo?” Amethyst asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to take a picture after everyone is happy on a sugar high?”

“I like the way you think Amethyst.”

“I know you do!” Amethyst and Lapis shared a high five while Peridot grumbled underneath them.

“Ice cream is great, but it is also very messy.” Pearl put on a forced grin at the mere mention of the food item. “We’ll be able to enjoy it all the more when we don’t have to look nice and clean for the photo.”

“Whatever mum.” Amethyst rolled her eyes, but smiled when she grabbed Peridot’s shoulder. “Let’s make a big smile for the camera, frowny face!”

Peridot went ‘nyheh’ when Amethyst pulled her really, really close. It made Lapis roll her eyes.

“Why are we taking a photo anyway? Jasper’s not going to run away again, so we don’t need something to identify her. Not that it would be hard to find a big orange lady on this planet…”

“It’s just…” Steven began before he paused. The threat of the Diamonds coming and taking over Earth loomed over his head every day. After meeting The Cluster, Steven knew what the Diamonds were capable of if they could catch their enemy. “I want something to remember you all by! In case we get separated somehow.”

This sentence made Garnet raise an eyebrow at her young child.

“I don’t think Jasper is going to fall down a hole a second time Steven.” Lapis said before the other gem could intervene.

“WATCH YOUR MOUTH LAZULI! WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”

Jasper shook her fist at Lapis while she raised her hands in mock surrender. Pearl shook her head in motherly disappointment while Peridot and Amethyst giggled at yet another Lapis vs. Jasper death match. Garnet smiled and placed Jasper in a headlock, which made Jasper grin.

“You wanna piece of me too, fusion?”

“You know it.” 

“Ladies, can you please act nice for the…” Pearl signed when Garnet gave Jasper a noogie. They looked like they were having the time of their life. “Never mind. Smile for the camera everyone!”

“Say Yellow Diamond smells!” Steven cried, somewhat relieved that Jasper and Lapis’ shenanigans had distracted everyone from his fears.

“Yellow Diamond smells!”  

After all, he didn’t want to upset his still growing family.

“Hey, this is a great photo!” Steven said, proudly looking at every member of the Crystals gems. Garnet still had a smiley Jasper in a headlock, Amethyst was doing a peace sign, Pearl was proudly looking at her Steven while Peridot looked like she was trying to hide the fact she was on cloud nine. Lapis… Well Lapis didn’t smile but she still looked happy to be in the photo anyway, which was more than enough for Steven. “This one’s for the album!”

* * *

“You achieved the impossible Steven!” Greg said as he looked at the photo and cuddled his son. “I’m surprised you didn’t break the camera!”

“Peridot took good care of it.” Steven said while his father hummed. The vibration the sound made on his dad’s chest felt nice.

“Now that’s a good looking family.” Greg said proudly.

“It’ll even be better when we get another one with you.” Steven breathed into his dad’s beard as he buried his face in it. “We’ll try to get Connie in the photo too.”

“Sounds lovely.” Greg said. “Just warn Jasper that I am a little too old to be rough housing.”

Steven hummed a ‘mmhmm’ before falling asleep in his dad’s arms.

Yeah.

Steven had a great family.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people don't like the idea of Jasper being redeemed and becoming a part of the Crystal Gems but... Someone really cool once said "If Steven hasn't given up on them, then I haven't either!" 
> 
> Not that I know how Steven feels about Jasper per se, but I feel like he'd take a chance on her the same way he took a chance on Peridot and that's something I really love about that character and the show. If Jasper does get a redemption arc, I hope she's worthy of it. 
> 
> Does this mean Lapis and Jasper will be friends? I don't know. Jasper and Lapis may work on the same team but that doesn't mean they'll be best buddies. However, given the shows track record for handling difficult relationships or problems, I can also see those two come to some sort of understanding even if they choose not to become friends. 
> 
> All I know is that I am rooting for all these characters.


	10. Cracked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That was a little harsh and quite dangerous, considering how unstable Jasper is.”
> 
> “She made fun of me and Peri for being small, she had it coming!” 
> 
> The Crystal Gems have found Jasper but she's in poor health.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot takes place in a setting where Lapis is now a part of the Crystal Gems and they've found Jasper, who was badly injured during her fall.

“Jasper, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Steven said.

“I don’t want to, but I have to. It’s time I stopped acting like a weakling and…” Jasper sighed. “Face this head on. Give me the mirror Steven. I can take it.”

Steven carefully passed the hand mirror to Jasper so she could tightly grip the handle. She took a few deep breaths before gazing into the mirrored surface, remembering the techniques her teacher taught her in order to calm down before a battle. However, this time the seconds before she looked into the glass felt were worse than any anxiety she may have felt before going to war when she was just a newly born gem. Heck, this felt worse than when she was Malachite. When she had been fused with Lapis, there was at least hope of escape.

There was no escaping this new reality.

“Weak. Pathetic!” she squeezed the handle of the mirror so hard that cracks started appearing on its wooden surface.

“Oh Jasper, it’s not that bad!”

“No, it’s worse!” Jasper screeched as she looked at the red and orange cracks in her gems that pulsed with pain. “It’s beyond repair!”

In a fit of rage and hopelessness Jasper threw the mirror against the wall and pounded the wall with her bare fists. Steven sat there in shock while Jasper muffled her screaming and sobbing with a pillow.

“It’s not broken. Good news Jasper, you won’t be getting 7 years of bad luck.” He picked up the mirror and sighed with relief. “Uh oh.”

Steven did not like the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway and braced himself for an interrogation. 

“Steven! Are all right?” Garnet called for him in a panicked voice.

“We heard a huge crash!” Pearl said.

“Man Jasper, if you hurt Steven it’s pounding time!” Amethyst cracked her whip for good measure, only to falter in her ferocity at the sight of Jasper of all gems crying. “Gosh…”

“It’s okay everyone, I’m fine!” Steven said. “Jasper is just upset because she saw her cracked gem for the first time.”

“Shut up!” Jasper cried. “I can still take them!”

“Not with a gem that cracked you can’t.”

“Amethyst!” Steven chided her and put a reassuring hand Jasper’s shoulder. “That’s not nice!”

“But it’s true!” Amethyst said, crossing her arms. “And when has Jasper been nice to any of us? If her gem is wrecked beyond repair, it serves her right!”

When Jasper started growling on all fours, Garnet shook her head and sighed before rounding up all the gems.

“Okay, Steven seems to be handling the situation well. Let’s go back downstairs.” As the other gems began to leave, Garnet said: “That was a little harsh and quite dangerous, considering how unstable Jasper is.”

“She made fun of me and Peri for being small, she had it coming!”    

Steven shook his head and put the hand mirror back on the nightstand. Then he pulled Jasper’s blanket over her body and fluffed her pillows.

“We’ll find a way to fix your gem.” Steven said. “I don’t know why my powers don’t work with you but I am sure we’ll find a solution. Together. In the meantime, I’ll take care of you, okay?”

Jasper glared at Steven.

“What’s the point of taking care of a useless, weak gem who can’t even summon her weapon anymore?”

“I don’t know, but maybe one day we’ll find out?” Steven said, not expecting an answer. “I bet there’s lots of neat things you can do without your gem.”

Jasper rolled her eyes before spotting someone else.

“Come to gloat?” Jasper snarled at the small green gem by the door. “Do your worst, Peridot.”

She looked like she was going to do just that when she glared at Jasper and opened her mouth, but Peridot stopped when she remembered Steven was in the room.

“No. No I haven’t. Even though I could and would be justified in doing so.”

“Peridot!” Steven cried.

“But I won’t because I know what it feels like to be… weak and small.” Peridot said. “When Amethyst threw away my limb enhancers it was awful and I didn’t know how I was going to cope without them, but then I became one of the Crystal Gems and thought that life wasn’t too terrible without them. I felt big and strong.”

Peridot and Jasper didn’t break eye contact for several seconds. Steven stood in the background with his ‘Oh Peridot!’ face. Peridot blushed.

“Look what I’m trying to say is, you’ll be okay! If I could survive on this planet without my limb enhancers, you’ll be able to survive with your cracked gem. Peridot out.” And with that the little green gem ran back to her room downstairs.

Steven and Jasper were quiet for several minutes.

“I can’t believe that pathetic Peridot compared herself to me.” Jasper said without really much malice or hatred in her voice. She was laying on her back and staring at the ceiling, looking much calmer than she had been a couple of minutes ago.

“But it made you feel better, right? To know someone has been in a situation like yours.” Jasper glared at Steven. “I-I know it’s not the same thing but maybe something good will come from all of this? After all, Peridot and Lapis didn’t like Earth but now they’re happy! Maybe one day, you’ll be happy too.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Jasper sneered. “Lapis and Peridot may have cracked under pressure, but I’m made of _better_ stuff.”

“Ohhohohoho trust me, you aren’t the first gem who didn’t want to be my friend.” Steven chuckled while Jasper raised an eyebrow.

“You’re comparing me to Peridot again!”

 “Yes!” Jasper rolled her eyes as Steven started giggling and she fell back onto the bed.

“Go to Earth they said, it’ll be easy they said…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some SU fans have been speculating about the status of Jasper's gem because we didn't see her face in Super Watermelon Island. We've already seen Steven heal Lapis' gem but I think it would be interesting to see a really complex problem Steven's healing powers can't quite solve. It'd also be cool to have a gem with a disability that affects how she goes about her life because there aren't a lot of physically disabled characters in SU.


	11. Small, Green and Cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bismith teases Amethyst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert for the new episode previews!

“So?” Bismuth asked in a sing-song voice. “Who’s small, green and cute?”

Amethyst groaned.

“None of your business!”

“Aww, don’t be like that Ame!”

“It’s Ame _thyst_.” She snarled, not liking the way Bismuth roared with laughter and started messing with her hair! “As in I’m gonna throw my fist in your face!”

“Keep up that feisty attitude, home grown Homeworld girls _love_ that!”

Bismuth kept on laughing when Amethyst started SCREAMING and ran away. It was perfect.


	12. "Bismuth, Please!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot defends Amethyst's honour and Bismuth embarrasses them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers if you count the episode previews for next week's Steve Universe episode a spoiler!

Peridot was excited to meet the old but ‘technically’ new member of the Crystal Gems, she couldn’t wait to ‘haze the newbie’ and assert her authority with the new gem!  

That was until Bismuth first set eyes on Amethyst.

“My goodness! Aren’t you a _tiny_ quartz gem!” Bismuth gave a throaty chuckle and did the worst thing a tall person could do to a small person. The large gem squatted down to Amethyst’s eye-level and kept gawking right at her like humans would gawk at the adorable animals at the zoo. “You’re so cute and small, I wanna put you in my pocket!”

Peridot didn’t notice the way Garnet frowned or how Pearl’s hand was clasped to her mouth, she was too focused on Amethyt’s pained expression. Ame’s teeth were grit and she refused to look Bismuth in the eye after the word ‘tiny’ had been uttered from her mouth, but it didn’t look like Amethyst was gonna speak back to the other gem.

Thankfully, Peridot had a lot of experience in talking back to a superior officer!

“Tiny? TINY?!” Peridot yelled in a voice that did not match her small size. Garnet and Pearl looked on in shock and fear, while Amethyst just looked surprised.

Bismuth hardly looked affected by all the noise.

“Ooooh, you guys have a Peridot on the team now? That is so cool.” Bismuth turned to meet Peridot and extended her large hand, which looked impossibly gigantic compared to Peridot’s tiny fingers. “Nice to meet ya!”

“AMETHYST IS NOT TINY!” Peridot screamed, ignoring Bismuth and standing her ground against a gem twice, maybe thrice her size. “SHE’S _PERFECT_!”

“Huh?” Bismuth responded, blinking in confusion. Pearl and Garnet looked like they wanted to intervene, but decided to wait and see what Peridot would say when Amethyt’s glassy eyes were starting to shine.

“YOU don’t get to make Amethyst feel SMALL because she doesn’t look like what a quartz gem is supposed to look like! Just because she’s small, doesn’t mean she can’t do anything a BIG quartz can do!” Peridot said, her arms flailing, her teeth gnashing and her eyes zigzagging as she spoke. Garnet and Pearl giggled when they saw that Amethyst hadn’t removed her eyes from Peridot since she started saying Amethyst was perfect. “In fact, she’s BETTER than a big quartz! Because big quartzs gems can get stuck down holes, enter into fusions they can’t control or end up giving up their essence to produce STEVENS!”

 Peridot pointed to Steven, who was busy back at the house hanging up the laundry with Connie. He smiled and waved at the gems, oblivious to what was going on.

“So yeah, Ame is small, but she’s PERFECT.” Peridot said. “She’s funny, she’s cool and I bet in a fight she could kick your clod behind back to Homeworld!”

Peridot snickered, her hands placed on her hips as she waited for Bismuth to challenge her to a fight. Peridot had somehow managed to get her gloves back, so she was ready to take her on and defend Amethyt’s honour with a blaster gun!

“You don’t like being tiny Amethyst?” Bismuth frowned, looking apologetic. Amethyst shyly looked at Garnet and Pearl, who gave her supportive smiles.   

“No one likes to feel small.” She said in a minute tone of voice.

“Aww, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was a sore topic.” Bismuth shuffled towards Amethyst and slowly enveloped her into her arms. Bismuth gently combed her hand through Amethyst’s hair.  “Next time, I promise I will be more careful about what I say.”

“You better or I will kick your behind back to Homeworld.” Amethyst smirked, but returned the hug. At those words, Bismuth’s eyes widened before she burst out laughing.

“I _love_ the new members of the team.” Bismuth grinned, patting Amethyt's shoulder and looking at Pearl and Garnet. “They remind me of Ruby and Sapphire.”

Peridot shrieked out a shrill ‘Nyeheheheh!’ and a ‘FJIoeajiajfeafioajfoajfa;;faiefjoaijfoaj GOODBYE!’ before she ran back to the Universe household, assumedly to hide under one of Steven’s warm blankets and never re-emerge again. From the way Amethyst was blushing and not quite looking at any of her teammates in the eye, it seemed as if she she wanted to do the same thing but instead opted to try and laugh off what Bismuth had said. Unfortunately, Garnet and Pearl didn’t seem to buy the cool act for one second.

“SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!” Amethyst shouted when Pearl and Garnet started laughing at her.

“You sure? Cos you two would make a cute couple-”

  “Bismuth, PLEASE.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's very unlikely Peridot and Bismuth will meet next week since Peridot wasn't in the episode preview, so that was why I decided to write this fanfic right now, BEFORE it would be no longer canon compliant. *weeps because I really want this fanfic to be canon compliant* 
> 
> Also, some people are theorising that Bismuth might not be a recurring character because her lovely voice actor (LOVE that voice) is listed as a guest star? So I thought, what a better way to celebrate a new favourite character (they're all my favourites though) then to speedily write Amedot fanfiction? Before she is taken from us, the way Jasper or Centipeetle was taken from us? 
> 
> Seriously Rebecca Sugar, where's Jasper? When is Centipeetle coming out of their bubble?


	13. I Could Learn How to Love Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet and Lapis take a new step in their relationship. Takes place a while after 'Alone at Sea.'
> 
> There may be hints of Garnet/Lapis depending on how you read it.
> 
> Trigger warnings: brief mention of past abuse and symptoms of self hatred from having been abused.

Garnet blinked and turned her head to see Lapis Lazuli standing a few metres behind her on the sandy and golden beach. She smiled at the other gem and patted one of the large, grey rocks as an invitation for Lapis to come sit with her. Lapis hesitated, but walked towards the proffered seat and quietly watched the ocean with Garnet. Lapis took a deep breath as she took in the salty breeze and smiled. She still didn’t like being near the sea by herself, but she was relieved that her love for the water hadn’t been completely stolen by Jasper.

“Nice night.” Garnet said, referring to the ruby coloured sky and the calm waters.

“Mmm.”

“Glad you could join me.” Lapis blushed at the compliment but didn’t respond. Living with Peridot and palling around with Amethyst had somewhat thawed her icy nature, but she still couldn’t get rid of the overwhelming feeling that the other gems didn’t like her. She didn’t blame them of course, but Steven told her that Amethyst and Peridot had warmed up to her and that Garnet and Pearl were beginning to trust her. She suspected that the other gems only said that to make Steven happy though. “Beautiful views are best shared together.”  

“That hasn’t always been my experience.” Garnet looked at Lapis. She bowed her head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

“It’s okay. You were put through a negative experience you should have never had to endure.” Garnet said. “If you want to talk about it, I am here for you.”

Lapis’ cheeks glowed a deep cobalt colour and she gave a small smile to the other gem. They basked in the scenery again, before Lapis was the first gem to speak this time.

“So… you’re a fusion.”

“Yep.”

“Steven says you like being a fusion.”

“I don’t like it.” Garnet smirked. “I _love_ it.”

“A fusion you like being a part of…” Lapis looked out onto the sea and _wondered_. “If Sapphire or Ruby didn’t want to be a fusion anymore, does that mean you’d stop being… You?”

“I am only me because Sapphire and Ruby want to be together.” Garnet explained. “If that were not the case anymore, I would cease to exist the moment either Ruby or Sapphire decide it’s time to split up.”

“But you don’t want to. You actually don’t want to.” Lapis whispered, looking at her hands. “I wonder what that must feel like…”

Garnet stared at Lapis and made a decision.

“You can try and see for yourself.” Garnet extended her hand to Lapis. “That is, if you want to try again.”

Lapis gasped and stared at Garnet’s hand.

“You… trust me?” Lapis edged away from Garnet and hid behind the rock she had been sitting on. “You shouldn’t trust me. I kept the last gem who fused with me prisoner and now it’s damaged her mind beyond repair. Jasper could become corrupted and it would all be my fault, I don’t want you to become corrupted too!”

Garnet jumped off the rock, calmly approached Lapis as the waves hit her feet and offered her hand to the other gem again.

“Anyone who goes through immense suffering to protect Steven is trustworthy to me.” Garnet stated.

“But what I did-”

“Was bad, but you feel remorse for your actions. After all that you have been through to protect my Steven, you _deserve_ to know what a healthy fusion feels like.”

Lapis looked at Garnet’s hand.

“Unless you don’t want to fuse again.” Garnet added. Lapis blinked and her cheeks turned a dark blue colour again.

“No! I do! I…” Lapis shyly touched Garnet’s fingertips and gasped at the feeling. Her blue eyes glistened in anticipation. “I just need a moment.”

Garnet grinned when Lapis finally took her hand and gripped it tightly.

This was going to be a good experience.


	14. Friendship To the Max!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis is really happy she's friends with Amethyst and Peridot, especially while watching Camp Pining Hearts. 
> 
> Asexual and Ace Lapis with a dollop of Amedot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: very brief mention of past abuse.

“Do you really like being around each other? All the time?” Amethyst and Peridot looked at each other when Lapis asked that question during the commercial break of Camp Pining Hearts. The purple and green couple had been dating for weeks prior to Lapis’ inquiry and it was safe to say that yes, Ame and Peri were very fond of each other. They had cute nicknames for one another, Amethyst visited the barn whenever she didn’t go on missions with Steven and the other Crystal Gems and Peridot would loudly complain about her girlfriend’s absence on twitter. Lapis knew this because she often went on solo flights whenever she couldn’t take Peridot’s whining anymore. Peridot and Amethyst had a feeling Lapis’ question had another layer of meaning to it though.

They opted to give Lapis a simple and straightforward answer.

“Yep.” Peridot said.

“Pretty much.” Amethyst took the opportunity to wrap her arm around her tiny girlfriend and give her a big, wet smooch. Lapis ogled them as Peridot went ‘nyheheheh’ and blushed a dark green colour. 

“You don’t get annoyed or angry being around each other all the time?” Lapis asked.

“Only when Peridot gets annoyed at me for multishipping.”

“I’m just saying, how can you ship Percy with anyone OTHER THAN PIERRE?” Peridot exclaimed. “It defies reason and logic!”

“That’s love baby.” Amethyst smirked. “It don’t need logic. It’s why I fell for a dork like you!”

“Oh go suck a lemon!” Peridot huffed and crossed her arms, before the frown on her face was wiped away by Amethyst blowing a raspberry on her cheek. “Amethyst and I certainly aren’t Garnet, but most of the time we do enjoy each other’s company.”

Peridot smiled when she felt Amethyst cuddle up even closer to her. It made Lapis go ‘Oh…’

“So that is what a healthy relationship is like…” Lapis technically knew that was, but Garnet telling her that Ruby and Sapphire staying fused together was a choice that made them both happy seemed more like a theory than a reality. Lapis placed a hand to her chest. “Huh…”

Amethyst and Peridot both gave each other a worried look.

“It’ll happen for you.” Amethyst reassured Lapis. “Just because it didn’t work out with Jasper doesn’t mean you won’t meet someone else.”

“Yeah!” Peridot exclaimed. “You may like another gem more than you liked smelly old Jasper!”

“Peri…”

“I’m just saying!”

Lapis chuckled and said ‘it’s all right’ before staring out at the starry sky through the hole in the barn.

“I’m glad you two are nothing like Malachite. It’s nice to know there are gems who are truly happy being together.” Lapis smiled, thinking of how in her darkest moments she clung to memories of Amethyst and Peridot’s joy to keep her from missing a certain someone. “I’m just not sure if that’s what I want. After Malachite, I just want to be free… Even if that means I might be alone.”

Lapis basked in the crickets’ song as she kept staring outside.

“Who says you gotta be alone to be single?” Amethyst’s warm grin brought Lapis back in from the cold, night air. “Me and Peri ain’t going anywhere.”

“Yeah!” Peridot squealed. “We can have Camp Pining Hearts marathons _forever!_ ”

Any other time Lapis would have pushed Peridot off the couch for the way she leaned over Amethyst to share her uh, enthusiasm for the silly teen soap opera. But instead, Lapis chuckled and her cheeks became a healthy cobalt colour.

“I think I’d like that.”

While Peridot went ‘nyhehehe’ as she lied on Amethyt’s lap, Lapis petted Peridot as they continued to watch their favourite show.

It was nights like these that Lapis was truly happy Steven let her out of that mirror.   


	15. "It Was a Good Experience."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a sequel to 'I Could Learn How to Love Like You.' You should read that one for context. 
> 
> Pearl gets the shock of her life.

Pearl was at the kitchen counter in Steven’s house, making him a nice home-cooked meal for him and Connie to enjoy when they returned from the party. It was being held at Connie’s house and having met Connie’s mother, Pearl trusted that the two young children would have a wholesome good time.

Which was more than she could say for certain gems when they walked through the door.

“Garnet, I’m making Connie and Steven dessert, do you want anything-” she nearly cut off her finger with the kitchen knife when she saw Lapis Lazuli walking right in front of Garnet, giggling and _blushing_. “Oh I’m sorry Lapis, I didn’t see you there.”

“Uh, no it’s fine! I was just looking for Steven, but since he’s not here I’ll just go.” She coyly turned her head towards Garnet and _smiled._

_She freaking smiled._

Pearl nearly squawked like a bird at the sight.

And not in smarmy, smirky smile that she’d throw at Amethyst when the gem made a joke at other people’s expense or when Peridot made a mistake in interpreting human customs!

A real, happy smile!

“Goodnight.” She said softly and walked out into the night, Garnet never removing her eyes from her as she left and the moon made her blue skin glow in a luminous shine.

“Goodnight.” Garnet called after her and shut the door. She started humming ‘stronger than you’ under her breath until she saw Pearl’s shocked expression. “What?”

“YOU FUSED!” Pearl cried, pointing an accusing finger at her. “YOU FUSED!”

Garnet flashed pearl a tooth grin.

“What makes you think that?”

“HELLO!” Pearl shouted, gesturing towards Garnet’s face. “YOU’RE WEARING YOUR ‘I JUST FUSED’ FACE!”

“Oh. I see.” Garnet smirked and just shrugged her shoulders. “I’m going for a swim. I’ll be back before Steven and Connie come home.”

“Don’t you…” Pearl hesitated, biting her bottom lip nervously. “Want to talk about what just happened?”

“Nope.” Garnet said.

“Not even a little?!”

“Don’t need to. It was a good experience.” Garnet smirked and swaggered her way outside.

Pearl stared after Garnet with her mouth wide open.

“Jasper is going to kill her.” Pearl shook her head, but picked up her knife and went back to cooking.


	16. Future Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet is not happy after the events of 'The Last One Out of Beach City.' Pearl/Garnet angst ahead!

_“We should confess! We should confess right now! Stop The Fake Rose before she waltzes in and hurts Pearl!” Ruby wrung her hands and growled at the very idea of that sort of thing happening to_ their _Pearl, after everything she had been through._

_“You don’t know that will happen.” Sapphire said in a calm voice and sat there in a meditative position as she watched her girlfriend storm up and down their domain. Garnet’s domain._

_“It could!”_

_“Ruby.” Sapphire rolled her eyes when Ruby made a tiny scream. “It’s not about what we want.”_

_“I know, I know!” Ruby made an exasperated sigh and gently grabbed Sapphire’s hand and laced her fingers in the other gem’s. “But what about what_ we _want?”_

_Sapphire smiled sadly up at her girlfriend._

_“Sometimes we don’t always get what we want Ruby.”_

Garnet was broken from her thoughts by the sound of a car engine stopping and bright shining lights suddenly vanishing.

“We’re home!” she could hear Steven’s voice boom from the entrance to the house.

“GARNET GARNET GARNET GARNET GARNET!” Amethyst squealed as she ran to her. “You will not believe what happened tonight!”

“Pearl got a human girl’s number?” Garnet said in her classic monotone voice that she hoped hid the weariness she felt.

“YEAH!” Amethyst cried and Garnet chuckled weakly at her enthusiasm.

“Future vision is always right.” Garnet smiled sadly.


	17. Smooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet doesn't like it when Pearl brings home Mystery Girl, but she soon warms up to her. 
> 
> Pearl/Garnet/Mystery Girl ahoy!

Garnet hadn’t intended to spend the evening acting cool and aloof, leaning against the wall while she watched the Mystery Girl (what was her name again?) charm the hell out of Steven and Amethyst as Pearl gushed about her, but…

That’s what happened.

It was the only way she could spend the evening without getting sassy or catty.

_‘I thought we were gonna take the high ground!’ A smug voice smirked._

_‘Ruby, don’t test my patience…’ Sapphire said firmly._

Until, said source of potential sassiness and cattiness approached her.

“Hey.” She said in a smooth voice. “You’ve been awfully quiet this evening.”

Garnet didn’t move an inch under Mystery Girl’s gaze.

“I’m an awfully quiet gem.”

_‘Smooth Garnet.’ Ruby said._

“Yeah, Pearl said.” Mystery Girl snorted as she shot a fond look at Pearl that made Garnet want to unfuse. “She says a lot of things about you, you know.”

 _That_ made Garnet lower her specs.

“She told me you’re like this cool, graceful warrior woman of love and justice and that she idolises you.”

_‘SHE TALKS ABOUT US SHE TALKS ABOUT US SHE TALKS ABOUT US SHE TALKS ABOUT US-” Ruby kept running around in a circle while Sapphire sat there, blushing to herself._

“I see.” Garnet said, trying hard to stay nonchalant.

“And after meeting you, I definitely agree with the cool and graceful part.” Mystery Girl smiled. “So I was wondering if… you were interested in hanging out? Just the three of us? That is if you two can leave the kids at home.” She was talking about Steven and Amethyst.

_‘OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH-’ Ruby bit her finger nails. ‘ARE WE BEING ASKED ON A DATE? SHOULD WE GO?! I MEAN-’_

_‘You didn’t get this excited when Jamie wrote us that love letter.’ Sapphire said flatly. ‘We’re going.’_

“I wouldn’t want them to see anything inappropriate, if you know what I mean.” Mystery Girl winked.

Garnet returned it with a huge smirk.

“No, we wouldn’t.”


	18. Tis The Season to Meep Morp!

“Lapis, I don’t know about this!” Peridot fidgeted as her teeth chattered.

“You didn’t know anything when you arrived on this planet, you will be fine.” Lapis commented nonchalantly as she sewed the last piece of her meep morp together with a flourish. She smirked at the finished product, basking in its beauty. “I think you’re ready Peridot.”

“NO!” she screeched.

“Yes.” Lapis crossed her arms.

“Don’t make me do this.” Peridot whimpered. 

“Is what I said about three hours ago, before you convinced me to do this for you.” Lapis sighed and rolled her eyes. She reached out and patted Peridot on the shoulder and tried not to cringe at how flaky it felt against her fingertips. Safe to say, she much preferred the texture of autumn leaves. “You’ll be fine. And if she outright rejects you, screw her.”

“… Lapis, if someone says no I don’t think-”

“Oh just get out there you Earth-minded gem.” Lapis pushed Peridot out with a firm shove and watched the little green dorito waddle her way into the living room where her sweetheart was, grumbling and cursing Lapis all the way. “Steven’s right. I’m the best wingman. Wingwoman… Wingperson?”

Lapis shrugged and went back to making more meep morps.

She didn’t like the feel of the miss… miss whatever-it-was but she sure liked making these ‘Festive Jumpers’ Steven was really fond of.

She just hoped Amethyst like them too.

* * *

 

Amethyst was engrossed in another one of her shoujo manga novels (that she read ironically FYI), when a harsh cough disrupted her funky flow.

“Ya need something Peri?”

The green dorito proceeded to clear her throat again.

“Pearl keeps some medicine for that in the cupboard.”

Peridot did it again.

“Sigh, okay I’ll be your nurse-” Amethyst slowly put her book down, got up from the coach before she took one good look at Peridot and _screamed_. “What are you WEARING?!”

“I… I-uh…” Peridot had pictured this different in her head. One cough would be enough to get Amethyst’s attention and Peridot would saucily wiggle her eyebrows until the Quartz gem fell into her arms and then they would – Okay Peridot was embarrassing herself further by thinking these sexy thoughts! “I… Happy Holidays?!”

This just made Amethyst chuckle harder and Peridot literally wanted to melt into the floor, the same way Steven’s Hanukkah candles would after eight days and eight nights.

“You do know what mistletoe is, right?” Amethyst smirked as she looked up and down at Peridot’s green jumper, which had several wreaths of mistletoe lovingly stitched into the fabric. And because Lapis was a true meep morpist, she added a little headband that made a fabulous mistletoe tiara, perfect for catching the one you want to kiss.

“I… Yeah…” Peridot hesitated, wondering why the kissing wasn’t happening right now. Didn’t tradition require one to immediately start smooching under the mistletoe? Or was this another earth custom she had gotten wrong? Again? “Do you not like it?”

Peridot felt some sort of relief when Amethyt’s eyes soften for about a millisecond, before a cocky grin appeared on her face.

Amethyst knew that Steven had already explained the concept to Peridot, but she had liked asking anyway.

“You don’t need a silly old plant to get me to kiss you.” Amethyst snorted. “You could have asked me.”

Peridot literally lit up like a Christmas tree, all without the help of tiny lights.

“REALLY?” she screeched. This was happening, it was HAPPENING.

“Yeah.” Amethyst walked slowly towards Peridot, getting up close and personal before cupping the green dorito’s cheek. It made Peridot feel very big and very… warm. Amethyst whispered: “I want to kiss you because I like you, not because of some silly plant.”     

Peridot could only describe the kiss in a few words.

WOWEEEE.

GEE WIZ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY HOLIDAY TO ALL OF YOU!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I would just like to take a moment to explain certain character interpretations in this fic. 
> 
> According to the 'Word of God' trope, Steven may be half-Jewish: (http://theroguefeminist.tumblr.com/post/146948535483/steven-universe-is-jewish-searching-just-now-only). This hasn't yet been confirmed in canon as far as I know, but I make references to this in the fanfic in order to respect what this means to people who may identify with Steven because of this characteristic (and in my opinion it's always great to have more diversity in television). 
> 
> However, as a mixed race person I will say it's not uncommon for people of multiple heritages or people who belong to multi-faith families to participate in different celebrations relating to different religious holidays, even if they might not practice the religion. And for Steven, I'd say it would be pretty in character for him to want to celebrate all sides of his heritages - assuming Greg is a Christian and Rose is coded to be Jewish or Semitic. This is why I refer to Steven not only celebrating Christmas, but Hanukkah as well. 
> 
> If you've got any questions please ask me. Have a pleasant holiday season!


	19. Good Tidings I Bring to You and Your King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This holiday season, Jasper learns to accept Lapis' choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: One-sided Jasper/Lapis from Jasper's end. Jasper has learned to control her anger and obsessive behaviours in this fic but if you don't like this pairing, not even one-sided depictions of it then you may not want to read this fic.

The ocean was calm, Steven was sitting comfortably in her lap asking to be read his favourite books aloud and the only thing that was lighting the Universe household at this very moment were the sparkly Christmas lights, the orange and red fireside and the lamp coming from the kitchen where Greg was baking cookies. It was a perfect evening.

Until she heard a loud banging on the front door, which sounded like a familiar boom she wouldn’t be able to match to another gem until seconds later.

“Don’t worry Lapis, I’ll get it!” Steven jumped from his seat and ran towards the door without thinking, only to reveal a large, giant and orange woman with a large bouquet of flowers when he opened it.

“J-JASPER?!” Steven flushed with horror before branding his pink, rose decorated shield without a second thought as to how or why Jasper had appeared so suddenly at his house. “GET OUT! YOU’RE BREAKING OUR TRUCE!”

“Hey!” Jasper shouted before she gasped and sweat ran down her brow because she had realised that yelling would be counterproductive to her purpose for coming to the Universe household and risking an ass-kicking from the little Rose. She put on her ‘best’ smile and leaned down to Steven’s level, not realising she might be scaring him with her large, carnivorous teeth being put on display with a forced grin. “Now just wait one minute, Little Rose….”  

“I’m not Rose, I AM STEVEN!” he made a loud ‘ahhhhh!’ noise that made Jasper cringed and proceeded to cry for his mums. “PEARL! GARNET! AMETHYST!”

“Shhh, no! Don’t call them! Aw geez, this is just like that time I tried to steal those eggs from that bird…”

Lapis rolled her eyes from the living room and decided to join the other two in literal hell.

The blue gem walked right up behind Steven, wrapped her arms around the little boy and brandished her wings at Jasper like two sharp, pointy swords that would give you more than a terrible papercut.

“What do you want Jasper?” she asked in a voice that would sound bored to a casual bystander, but Steven knew that Lapis wasn’t playing games. She was deadly serious about breaking the truce if Jasper hurt Steven and that was why the other gem gulped down a hunk of saliva and started sweating up a storm. Steven watched both gems closely and couldn’t remove his eyes from their exchange even if he wanted to.

“I…” Jasper coughed, combed back her mane with her free hand and returned to her normal height. She held out a beautiful bouquet of roses she was holding, with a light blush dusting her cheeks. “I just wanted to say that even though things won’t ever… happen again between us I still want you to have these flowers.”

Lapis looked Jasper up and down with suspicion.

“Why?”

“Because I want to do something nice for you. As… a friend.”

Steven gasped and got stars in his eyes. This made Jasper blush harder.

“Please, just take them so I can go home and curl up in a ball.”

Lapis looked at the roses, then at Jasper, and then the roses again. They didn’t look like they had any special gem weaponry inside them and Jasper did look somewhat sincere, as when you’ve been fused with someone for long enough you get to know a little bit about their characteristics. Jasper would be much more smug had there been any malice behind her actions.

Jasper released a breath of air when she felt the bouquet of flowers she lovingly picked leave her hand and smiled.

“Thank you. But this doesn’t change what I told you.” Lapis said firmly.

“I know.” Jasper said softly, looking at Lapis in a way Steven hadn’t seen before. This look wasn’t crazy obsessive, but sort of fond? Loving? Remorseful? “I know.”

Steven didn’t know what was going through Jasper’s mind or what was going on, so it made him _so_ confused and conflicted.

The heavy silence between the gems (and little Steven) that lasted for a few mere seconds was broken by Greg.

“Okay Lapis and Steven, come and get your-” he squeaked and dropped the cookies. Jasper’s mouth made a delicate ‘o’ before she blushed and made an annoyed grunt. “JASPER!”

“YOU!” she pointed at a horrified Greg. “YEAH YOU! You better treat Lapis right! OR-OR ELSE!” with another ‘HMPH!’ Jasper flounced out the doorway and back onto the beach, running on the snowy ground like it was nothing as she tried to pitifully hide her pink cheeks.

Steven watched her with an open mouth.

“Dad…” Steven said. “Why does Jasper think you and Lapis are dating?”

Lapis and Greg’s eyes met and they both burst into laughter.

“It’s a long story Steven.” Lapis smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “A story I am not proud of but one I will tell you anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will probably write a sequel (or prequel) telling y'all what happened. :)


	20. It's Only Just Begun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Pearl's help, Amethyst confesses to Peridot on New Year's Eve. 
> 
> Will Peridot return Amethyst's feelings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic was written for people who have had a hard time during 2016. This year has been very difficult for many people for different reasons, but I hope you will leave this fanfic feeling a bit more hopeful for 2017. Things can get worse, but in the span of a year things can also get so much better. 
> 
> This may be a bit early, but please have a pleasant holiday and a lovely New Year, my dear readers. I hope 2017 will be brighter and better.

Talking her problems out with her family worked out last time, but Amethyst… didn’t really believe this New Year’s Resolution thing was gonna work out for her.

“Steven said that the New Year is a chance for a brand-new start and a way to just put the past behind you, but I don’t think that’s gonna work.” Amethyst hugged her knees and refused to look up from the ground, even though the night sky shone brightly in anticipation of another year.

Pearl crouched down next to her and watched as Amethyst drew images in the sand with her toe.

“Why not?”

Amethyst hugged her knees tighter.

“Because I’m a deformed gem and will always be a deformed gem.” Amethyst said with a slight wobble to her voice that made Pearl want to gather her up in her arms and hug her, but she resisted. Mothering wasn’t going to do the trick here. “A ‘New Year’ isn’t gonna change that.”

Pearl smiled.

“Peridot doesn’t care about that. Didn’t she say that you can do everything a regular quartz can do?” Pearl allowed herself to chuckle at the silly little statement, mostly because she would hope that Amethyst would realise how pointless it was to get so wrapped up in Homeworld politics.

“You don’t get it.” Amethyst sighed and Pearl shook her head. She took the change to snuggle up closer to Amethyst and wrap her arms around her. This wasn’t the bear hug she wanted to give, but Pearl congratulated herself on her self-restraint.

“No, I think I do. You don’t think you’re good enough for Peridot because of who you are. That’s how I felt before Rose and I… Well, you know how that turned out.” Pearl winked in response to Amethyst’s adorable little blush and gave her another little squeeze. “And it will turn out that way for you too if you just _take the chance_.”

“We’re not you and Rose.” Amethyst sighed.

“No.” Pearl smiled sadly. “Because I have a feeling you and Peridot will work out. Call it… a gut feeling!”

That was such a coarse phrase but admittedly it was such an appropriate way to describe how she felt.  

“Wow you mentioned the word gut without barfing… That’s some A+ character development Pierogi.” Amethyst snickered when Pearl playfully punched her arm. “Okay... I’ll give it a shot.”

* * *

 

“Pearl, what are you doing?” Steven balked at the way Pearl was spying on some random couple with a pair of binoculars instead of watching the fireworks. “You’re gonna miss the-”

“Shhh, Steven I will be with you in one moment my love but right now I’m watching over my other child.”

“Who?” Steven squinted in order to try and make who were the blobs walking on the beach in the middle of the night.

“She’s talking about Amethyst and Peridot.” Garnet explained while ruffling Steven’s hair.

“Oh.” Steven said before he took a couple of seconds to really think about what was going on before he gasped and got stars in his eyes. “LET ME SEE! LET ME SEE!”

Pearl gently shushed Steven but relinquished one half of her binoculars so they could watch the green and purple couple together. They stood there enraptured by the scene playing out before them, while Garnet sat nonchalantly enjoying her New Year’s snacks.

They watched as Amethyst shyly approached Peridot, who was looking tickled pink in her classic pink bowtie, no doubt in Pearl’s mind that she was happy to be alone on a beach alone with Amethyst. The purple gem didn’t seem to think that was the case though, as she was biting her bottom lip and wringing her hands. This made Pearl khash her teeth together in annoyance as she prayed Ame wouldn’t back out of telling Peridot how she felt now, not after all the secret preparation they did!  

“Is she gonna confess?!” Steven whispered excitedly.

“She had better!” Steven made a little “WOOHOO!” that made Garnet smirk. Pearl ruffled Steven’s hair in a Garnet-like fashion before looking back at her young protégé and her date. Amethyst was scratching the back of her head and looking at the ground, but she was finally _talking_.

“Don’t be so tense Pearl. Ame’s always been a late bloomer, but that’s never stopped her from catching up eventually.” Garnet said.

“But I don’t want her to lose any precious time with Peridot.” Pearl sighed sadly and took a break from her binoculars to look at the ground. “Sometimes we think we have so much _time_.”

Believe or not, Pearl wasn’t pushing Amethyst because she liked to throw people head first towards self-improvement, although she took great joy in helping people.

No, this was something a bit more selfish.

Pearl knew how painful it was to get a bit of happiness with the gem you loved, only for it to be taken away by war and self-sacrifice.

She didn’t want to watch another gem go through that again or at least, not have the same regrets she had.

 “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!”

“What happened?”

“She confessed! She confessed!” Steven excitedly squealed.

Pearl shoved her right eye so fast back into the binoculars that she worried that she would get a black eye later, but she wasn’t going to fret over that right now. No, her worst fear was that she had set Amethyst up for heartbreak…

“Say yes to her you… little green dorito!”

“I thought we had given up on food based insults.” Garnet smirked as she reclined in her seat.

“That was Amethyst, _I_ think food based insults will be appropriate for Peridot if she rejects her!” Pearl growled angrily at the very thought before a wonderful sight unfolded before her…

She could see a tiny green hand reach out to a purple one, before a pair of sparkly green eyes lit up the night sky like they were stars.

This was when Pearl suddenly grabbed Steven’s hand before oh my goodness she couldn’t take the tension and it didn’t look as if Amethyst could either! Was Peridot gonna return Ame’s feelings? Was she?

Steven’s grip on Pearl’s hand tightened and she could hear him make a small squealing noise as Peridot and Amethyt’s faces got closer and closer.

“They’re gonna kiss! They’re gonna kiss!”

For about five seconds Pearl didn’t believe it was gonna happen, that it was all just a hoax and that it would end horribly despite her hopes for Amethyst and that the world could be an unfair and cruel place, but Pearl was so absolutely delighted that this wasn’t the case and that said universe had finally decided to give Ame a break.

“THEY KISSED! THEY KISSED! WOOHHOOO!” Pearl fist pumped the air and proceeded to grab Steven and twirl him around the deck. “THEY KISSED!!!”

“Shh!” Garnet slowly approached them. “We don’t want to interrupt them.”

“They kissed!” Pearl whispered and that made Garnet chuckle, before she wrapped her arms around Pearl and Steven, protecting them from the cold night air. Not that gems could feel cold, but still…

“Let’s leave the lovebirds down on the beach alone.” Garnet said. “We can enjoy some roasted marshmallows before Amethyst comes back.”

“Maybe Peridot will come back with her!” Steven said excitedly.

“Maybe they will.” Pearl sighed with relief as she felt a warm glow overcome her when the humans on the other side of the beach were shouting “HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Pearl shared their sentiments and had a feeling it was going to be a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus this chapter ends the 'A Gem of a Tale' series. 
> 
> I started the series around August time last year because I fell hard and fast for Amedot and was super excited about the directions Steven Universe was going in. To this day I can safely say that although I've become invested in other fandoms, I don't think I will stop writing for SU any time soon because I still love the show. In fact, you may see some of my new SU fics next year. 
> 
> Until then, I would like to say thank you to anyone who ever left me kudos, bookmarked this series or left a kind comment. Seeing that kind of feedback always puts a smile on my face and it is truly appreciated.


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